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Detecting and localizing standing dead trees (SDTs) is crucial for effective forest management and conservation. Due to challenges posed by mountainous terrain and road conditions, conducting a swift and comprehensive survey of SDTs through traditional manual inventory methods is considerably difficult. In recent years, advancements in deep learning and remote sensing technology have facilitated real-time and efficient detection of dead trees. Nevertheless, challenges persist in identifying individual dead trees in airborne remote sensing images, attributed to factors such as small target size, mutual occlusion and complex backgrounds. These aspects collectively contribute to the increased difficulty of detecting dead trees at a single-tree scale. To address this issue, the paper introduces an improved You Only Look Once version 7 (YOLOv7) model that incorporates the Simple Parameter-Free Attention Module (SimAM), an unparameterized attention mechanism. This improvement aims to enhance the network's feature extraction capabilities and increase the model's sensitivity to small target dead trees. To validate the superiority of SimAM_YOLOv7, we compared it with four widely adopted attention mechanisms. Additionally, a method to enhance model robustness is presented, involving the replacement of the Complete Intersection over Union (CIoU) loss in the original YOLOv7 model with the Wise-IoU (WIoU) loss function. Following these, we evaluated detection accuracy using a self-developed dataset of SDTs in forests. The results indicate that the improved YOLOv7 model can effectively identify dead trees in airborne remote sensing images, achieving precision, recall and mAP@0.5 values of 94.31%, 93.13% and 98.03%, respectively. These values are 3.67%, 2.28% and 1.56% higher than those of the original YOLOv7 model. This improvement model provides a convenient solution for forest management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present thirty-one percent of overall forest cover is not enough to conserve biological diversity globally and so the need to conserve the last global forests (Powlen et al., 2021). Kenya has experienced significant degradation of forest resources in the last 40 years. In 2005, the government passed a forest legislation that allows communities adjacent to forests to co-manage forests. This paper evaluated the driving force of community involvement in participatory forest management. The paper adopted a descriptive research design targeting forest-adjacent communities. A questionnaire and interview schedule were used for data collection. A pilot study was conducted, and research tools were carefully revised to ensure the validity and reliability of the content. The paper used Taro Yamane's sampling formula to extract 255 respondents from a total of 671 households surrounding the forest. Quantitative data were evaluated using inferential statistics. The results were presented in tables and discussed appropriately. The results showed that 45.90% of the respondents are affiliated with one of the conservation user groups, while 54.1% of respondents were not affiliated with any Kodera Forest conservation groups. Based on Pearson's chi-square test statistic (43.449 with p-value = 0.000), it was clear that there was a significant association between education level and perception of forest user group importance. Similarly, the chi-square results suggested that there is a statistically significant association between participation in conservation activities and respondents' monthly expenditure at the conventional level of significance (α = 0.05). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forests are an essential part of the ecosystem and play an irreplaceable role in maintaining the balance of the ecosystem and protecting biodiversity. The monitoring of forest distribution plays an important role in the conservation and management of forests. This paper analyzes and compares the performance of imagery from GF-1 WFV, Landsat 8, and Sentinel-2 satellites with respect to forest/non-forest classification tasks using the random forest algorithm (RF). The results show that in the classification task of this paper, although the differences in classification accuracy among the three satellite datasets are not remarkable, the Sentinel-2 data have the highest accuracy, GF-1 WFV the second highest, and Landsat 8 the lowest. In addition, it was found that remotely sensed data of different processing levels show little influence on the classification accuracy with respect to the forest/non-forest classification task. However, the classification accuracy of the top of the atmosphere reflectance product was the most stable, and the vegetation index has a marginal effect on the distinction between forest and non-forest areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forests are subject to a huge variety of often competing socio-economic demands and environmental change. This paper assesses the related conflicts that occur along what we label to be a "Global Forest Environmental Frontier". Assessing 11 contributions to a special issue on the same topic, it summarizes the main contents of these papers and concludes with an assessment of major trends. The contributions to the special issue take both a regional and topic-related approach, assessing forest environmental conflicts on all five forested continents and investigating issues such as forest biodiversity conservation, climate change adaptation and mitigation, environmental justice and equity, development, and forest management and conservation discourses. Taken together, they provide an overview on the multiple facets of the Global Forest Environmental Frontier, but also identify some shared patterns and trajectories, which are outlined at the end of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As it is known that "reconnecting to nature" is essential for sustainability, there are few studies on why reconnecting humans to nature is essential and how it can be accomplished. This study is aimed at finding innovative, yet sustainable ways to reconnect people with nature. The objective of the paper is to enhance the biodiversity knowledge of local residents through conservation of non-timber forest products (NTFPs). In the study, urban respondents' knowledge about biodiversity with particular reference to non-timber forest products (NTFPs) was analysed for the first time. To achieve the objective of this study, participatory appraisal, one-on-one interviews, dual moderator focus groups, ethnographic field research, and semi-structured questionnaire were used. Plant name boards with local names and their NTFP values for the selected species were also installed. Results suggest that NTFP-producing species played a vital role in making people interested in biodiversity. It can be considered as one of the innovative ways to improve surrounding biodiversity, for further enhancing biodiversity knowledge, based on archival study and local community's knowledge about NTFP producing species, NTFPs plantation also done across the study area like parks, roadside, open space. This paper also explored how this study could contribute to the formulation of policies in terms of creating various urban green covers in Indian cities, following the strategies of joint forest management, social forestry, and agroforestry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a comprehensive forest mapping system using a customized drone payload equipped with Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), cameras, a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), and Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) sensors. The goal is to develop an efficient solution for collecting accurate forest data in dynamic environments and to highlight potential wildfire regions of interest to support precise forest management and conservation on the ground. Our paper provides a detailed description of the hardware and software components of the system, covering sensor synchronization, data acquisition, and processing. The overall system implements simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) techniques, particularly Fast LiDAR Inertial Odometry with Scan Context (FASTLIO-SC), and LiDAR Inertial Odometry Smoothing and Mapping (LIOSAM), for accurate odometry estimation and map generation. We also integrate a fuel mapping representation based on one of the models, used by the United States Secretary of Agriculture (USDA) to classify fire behavior, into the system using semantic segmentation, LiDAR camera registration, and odometry as inputs. Real-time representation of fuel properties is achieved through a lightweight map data structure at 4 Hz. The research results demonstrate the effectiveness and reliability of the proposed system and show that it can provide accurate forest data collection, accurate pose estimation, and comprehensive fuel mapping with precision values for the main segmented classes above 85%. Qualitative evaluations suggest the system's capabilities and highlight its potential to improve forest management and conservation efforts. In summary, this study presents a versatile forest mapping system that provides accurate forest data for effective management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Litter raking was a traditional forest use representing an interface between forestry and agriculture. In forest history, it has usually been presented as the harmful removal by peasants of biomass, which was gradually eliminated by foresters, leading to better forest preservation. Based on the example of an exceptionally well-documented case of illegal litter raking in Moravia in 1845, in this paper I argue that juxtaposing foresters and peasants in connection with litter raking masks a much more complicated reality. Neither foresters nor peasants can be interpreted as homogeneous groups because there were significant differences in the opinions and agendas of various representatives within these groups. In addition, opinions were not static on either side but could change in a discursive pattern. In a wider context, the environmental historical analysis of the Horka litter raking incident facilitates the understanding of larger societal processes that influenced past woodland management in Central Europe, and therefore current ecosystems too. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Forestry Review is the property of Commonwealth Forestry Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

1 Forested landscapes as multidisciplinary spaces contributing to all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (modified from Mansourian [12]) However, forest landscapes are under pressure with the loss of forest areas by conversion to other land uses and degradation of existing forests, and reduced biodiversity. The paper of Jandl et al. ([11]) considers the strategy of non-management and of the reliance solely on natural forest dynamics as an optimal approach for adapting forests to climate change. Forests and forest landscapes, characterised by dominant forest areas with other embedded land uses, fulfil multiple essential ecosystem services (ES). With this, forests and forest landscapes may lose their characteristic structural and ecological features, and societies worldwide face diminishing levels of ecosystem services provided by forest landscapes. [Extracted from the article]

The problem of forest degradation and loss has become the concern of many countries. To address this challenge, some collaborate in sustainable forest management. The most successful outcomes, however, are observed where local participation is an essential part of conservation efforts. In Ghana, forests have experienced various degrees of exploitation over the years, resulting in their ecological decline. Despite its designation as a protected area for biodiversity and ecosystem services, the Atewa Range Forest Reserve in Ghana has been significantly impacted by deforestation, illegal mining, and other destructive activities. The purpose of this paper is to examine ecologically based management approaches that could be adopted to generate beneficial outcomes for all forest stakeholders and actors in Ghana. The study sampled forest stakeholders in Kwabeng, the administrative capital of the Atewa West District, to understand forest governance challenges and outline strategies for overcoming them. The study revealed that a bottom‐up all‐inclusive approach to managing forest resources is necessary. This paper, therefore, proposes an integrated forest governance that prioritizes the UN Sustainable Development Goal 15—Life on Land‐related to forest preservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the (dis)continuity of sacred forests' management in the Pare Mountains, Tanzania, and questions the reasons behind the big generational divide when it comes to forest conservation. Studies show that sacred forests in North Pare are better preserved than national forest reserves and scholars suggest that the reasons for such high biodiversity are the communities' local traditions and conservation methods. Because local caretakers enable well-organized conservation with low economic expenditure, sacred forests' management has been thus recently considered a new favoured type of conservation model. However, the results of my ethnographic !eldwork show that at stake in this context, is much more the basic question of how this traditional knowledge can be gained in the first place. While it is commonly accepted that the main causes of forest destruction are farming, the cutting of building poles, etc. this paper highlights that the biggest concern regarding sacred forests' conservation for people in North Pare is the young generations' distance from sacred forests. I suggest therefore that changing worldviews have to be considered in the debate of sacred forest conservation and that knowledge transfer to the next generation of custodians (and mechanisms to ensure this happens) can complement recent conservation efforts, which typically neglect such generational issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Applied Ecology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Biotropica is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Qinghai–Tibet Plateau is a unique global natural geographical unit with a high altitude and fragile ecology, where land cover change has been affecting its regional ecological security and sustainable development. The plateau covers nine countries with different variations in climate change and human activities, which cause significant spatial variations in its land cover change. This paper uses land cover data to reveal the spatiotemporal characteristics and multi-country differences in land cover change on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau from 1992 to 2020 by applying spatiotemporal characteristic analysis and mapping methods. The results show that grassland (65.70%), bare land (15.56%), and woodland (10.25%) are the main types of land cover on the plateau, accounting for 91.51% of the total area. The interconversion of bare land and grassland was dominant in 1992–2020, with an area share of 67.83%. The turning point year of grassland change occurred in 2015. The grassland area increased by 6312 km2 in 1992–2015, while it decreased by 14,646 km2 in the plateau in 2015–2020. The areas of woodland, cropland, and water increased by 2.77%, 5.85%, and 7.57%, respectively, and the area of built-up land increased from 299.17 km2 to 1206.29 km2. Overall, a warming and wetting trend of the climate in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau has driven the expansion of natural vegetation and water in the central plateau within China, with its natural vegetation area increasing by 0.11%. However, the development of regional warming and drying caused local grassland degradation, where Kyrgyzstan and India within the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau experienced the most prominent vegetation degradation. Human activities are relatively frequent in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau within China and India, causing higher growth rates of built-up land and cropland than in other countries. The establishment of reserves and effective forest management policies have led to significant increases in woodland areas in China and Nepal within the plateau, while weak forest management and limited investment in forest conservation have led to high rates of deforestation in India and Myanmar. Accelerated temperature rises and regional differences in precipitation are the main drivers of large-scale land cover change on the plateau and differences in human activities and land use policies are responsible for the dramatic and diverse localized land cover change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mendoza city (Argentina) hosted the VIII Latin American Forestry Congress (CONFLAT) and the V Forestry Congress of Argentina (CFA) in 2023, where relevant issues were addressed, such as climate change, degradation, reforestation, management and forest industry, monitoring, environmental services, social issues, and governance, among others. The objective of this Special Issue was to present the main advances in Forestry Science for Latin-America in the context of changing governance and forest livelihoods for people. The fifteen articles emphasize the interdisciplinary nature of the forest management and conservation, and that multiple variables must be considered to achieve sustainability. The articles come from studies across Southern South-America (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay), and the collaboration of researchers of other countries (México, Canada, and Spain). Articles include research in tropical, Mediterranean and temperate Sub-Antarctic forests. Together, these articles provide a snapshot of new forestry research carried out locally and internationally to bring about beneficial ecological and environmental outcomes in a world facing the challenges of sustainable management and conservation amongst the threats and uncertainty of climate change and environmental degradation responsible for extensive loss of biodiversity and environmental services. We believe that this Special Issue will encourage more inter-disciplinary research focusing on management and conservation of forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An analysis is made of the ecological and economic relationships between the development of the forest sector of the economy and ways to achieve the desired quality of the forest environment based on assessing the assimilation service of forests to self-restoration after logging, fires, and other negative influences. The relevance of this study is determined by the fact that the issues of assessing the assimilation service of forest capital have not been adequately studied. At the same time, such research is complicated by the need to analyze the relationship between the environmental and economic consequences of logging and forest conservation measures that reduce their negative impact on the forest environment. The methodological approach to assessing these relationships as proposed in this paper implies the category of "external costs" in forest management and its value assessment as a set of environmental costs and damage prevented thanks to forest conservation measures. The results of calculations carried out for the model territories of the Far Eastern border regions have shown that the use of environment-saving selective logging methods increases the cost of logging, which is compensated by lower costs of reforestation and the preservation of the forest environment, thus allowing forests to fully perform socioregulatory services. The study also made it possible to assess the impact of regional forest management systems on the provision and quality of assimilation potential of the model territories. This analysis is necessary for elaborating mechanisms to coordinate the development of the forest complex and conservation activities in the forest regions of the Russian Federation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Forestry Society of Croatia / Sumarski List Hrvatskoga Sumarskoga Drustva is the property of Forestry Society of Croatia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Forests as a part of landscape do not fulfil their economic function (timber production) only but a lot of other non-economic functions, especially ecological ones. Both economic and non-economic functions are indisputable and equally important for society. The aim of this paper is to identify current attitudes to forest perceptions by citizens in the Czech Republic. Primary data were obtained by means of a questionnaire research survey which was carried out in 2018. Altogether 824 respondents took part in this survey (n = 824). From the results follows that approximately 70% of respondents visit forest at least three times a month. In connection with this, the relationship between respondents' forest visit frequency and the forest density in the region where they come from was con- firmed. 60% of respondents consider the forest exploitation and forest management to be the most important cause of damage and threats to forest. In relation to forest, 46% of respondents consider forest conservation and protection to be the most important topics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Works of the Faculty of Forestry University of Sarajevo is the property of Faculty of Forestry University of Sarajevo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper assesses the existing reforestation and forest conservation policies and strategies in Southeast Asia and how they have impacted people's lives. Southeast Asia contains 11 countries and is home to 20% of the world's species. Unfortunately, the region has been practising deforestation at an alarming rate. The main cause of deforestation in the region is the creation of land for agriculture, with forest fires and the growing demand for timber also contributing. As a result, the region has lost 376,000 km2 of forest in the last 30 years. Parts of the region have been involved in international efforts to protect forests, such as the 2016 Paris Agreement. However, some of these policies have not made much difference because most countries are not willing to support the necessary strategies. From the study findings, the main strength of the existing polices and strategies is that they are being amended to suit different changes in demographics and the practical needs of the sector. The sector has been able to shift from the initial state forestry management to making forests a multi-sectoral economic development agent. On the other hand, there are few polices at the national level that ensure every citizen participates in tree planting and that they understand the need to stop deforestation. In addition, many countries in the region are less willing to join the international communities in fighting climate change; that is, they do not agree with international partnerships like the Pris Climate Change Agreement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A variety of elements in nature, from a pine cone's bracts to a spiral galaxy, are described by a unique mathematical relationship described by Fibonacci as adhering to the "golden ratio". In forest management, various models are used to achieve a balance between forest use and conservation that meets societal expectations in both ecological and economic terms. In Central European countries, where forest management has been subordinated to the timber industry, such a transition is still in progress, and people continue to look for an acceptable balance between forest conservation and management. The main objective of this paper is to review approaches to forest management in Central Europe with the aim of contributing to current discussions on forest management models in Europe. We anticipate that the new EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 will implement the billion-tree afforestation program with appropriate consideration of forest potential based on the tenets of sustainable management and that the future climate will be neutral. We hope that the forestry aspects of the strategy will provide a positive impetus to forest management by finding effective compromises between forest conservation and forest use in furthering the aims of sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social forestry (SF) has long been implemented in production and protected forests in Indonesia. SF is considered to be a win–win solution for occupied and cultivated forest areas. The aim of this paper was to review the implementation of social forestry in Indonesia and its strengths and challenges. The secondary purpose was to synthesize the lessons learned and recommendations for the government about designing SF that can integrate the objective of forest biodiversity conservation and the social welfare of the surrounding communities. The study used a systematic literature review (SLR) of international and national peer-reviewed articles. The results of the study indicate that SF is intended to achieve benefits in three main areas: social, economic, and ecological. However, the review found that the ecological aspects of biodiversity conservation often receive less attention compared to the social and economic goals. A strong point of SF implementation is increasing community access to forest land use, while a challenge that must be resolved is that including communities in forest management can result in fragmentation and changes to animal habitats; thus, there is the potential for population decline and extinction. This study advises policymakers to pay more attention to ecological functions to ensure forest sustainability in SF development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Forestry Review is the property of Commonwealth Forestry Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Facing a dramatic depletion of forests in the Viceroyalty of New Spain, throughout the last decades of colonial rule (between the mid-eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries) the Bourbon administration wrote and published a considerable number of laws, reports, surveys, and ordinances on forest management and conservation. In this paper we examine discourses of forest conservation and the measures applied to preserve this critical resource by colonial official and experts. Drawing on forest laws, ordinances, and reports from national archives in Mexico City, we argue that conservation became part of the concepts which defined how forests were conceptualized and managed, but also that conservation was intrinsic to colonial processes of state-making and territorialization. This paper aims to approach Bourbon officials' understanding of conservation as a complex interrelation between renewed discourses of nature and the practices of colonial forest administration through the idea of indeterminacy. Likewise, it sheds light on patterns that have defined the ways in which forest conservation has been constituted in modern Mexico, addressing a little-studied period in forest management in this country. • Forest conservation was contentious questioning the universality of colonial laws. • Conservation became a site of experimentation to know, govern, and produce forests. • Conservation provides insights into the colonial state's territorial actualization. • Colonial forest laws played an important role in defining the context of depletion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preserving the forest ecosystem in Jeneberang watershed is important for sustainability of the Jeneberang River and to ensure water supply for downstream activities. In order to ensure sustainability, forest conservation in the upstream area is significant and this involves participation of local community. However, their participation is not formal; rather it is voluntary effort to protect the area from further damage. Therefore, this paper examined the benefits received by local communities living in Manimbahoi village through forest conservation efforts. It has two objectives, mainly to describe the benefits for local communities' participation in preserving their forest and to analyse the purpose of local communities' voluntarily engagement in forest conservation. Field research was carried out from May to June 2021. Data collection was carried out by in-depth interviews with several key informants, observation, and through literature review. The results of the study show that local communities are encouraged to maintain forest areas for water conservation for rice fields and plantations. In addition, part of the conserved area has become a local community garden. Hence, forest conservation ensures sustainable livelihood of the local community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individual tree detection (ITD) and crown delineation are two of the most relevant methods for extracting detailed and reliable forest information from LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) datasets. However, advanced computational skills and specialized knowledge have been normally required to extract forest information from LiDAR.The development of accessible tools for 3D forest characterization can facilitate rapid assessment by stakeholders lacking a remote sensing background, thus fostering the practical use of LiDAR datasets in forest ecology and conservation. This paper introduces the treetop application, an open‐source web‐based and R package LiDAR analysis tool for extracting forest structural information at the tree level, including cutting‐edge analyses of properties related to forest ecology and management.We provide case studies of how treetop can be used for different ecological applications, within various forest ecosystems. Specifically, treetop was employed to assess post‐hurricane disturbance in natural temperate forests, forest homogeneity in industrial forest plantations and the spatial distribution of individual trees in a tropical forest.treetop simplifies the extraction of relevant forest information for forest ecologists and conservationists who may use the tool to easily visualize tree positions and sizes, conduct complex analyses and download results including individual tree lists and figures summarizing forest structural properties. Through this open‐source approach, treetop can foster the practical use of LiDAR data among forest conservation and management stakeholders and help ecological researchers to further understand the relationships between forest structure and function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The latest reports from the European Commission warn of the need to improve the conservation status of its forest habitats. Native populations of priority habitat 9570 (Tetraclinis articulata forests) in continental Europe are located in the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula. The LIFE-TETRACLINIS-EUROPE project aimed to improve habitat conservation conditions. As part of the results of this project, a habitat quality index was proposed with the intention of evaluating both its conservation conditions and its evolution after the implemented action measures. The variables used in this index were selected with the aim of achieving high representativeness of the quality of the habitat while at the same time being easily integrated into monitoring programs. In this paper, we intend to verify the suitability of the variables chosen for this index, its sensitivity to discriminate different conservation levels, and its possible inclusion in forest management programs through a cost-effectiveness analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Forestry Review is the property of Commonwealth Forestry Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of International Forestry Review is the property of Commonwealth Forestry Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of International Forestry Review is the property of Commonwealth Forestry Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Forests and the dynamic changes play decisive roles in soil erosion prevention, biodiversity conservation and climate warming mitigation, and are crucial for China to achieve carbon neutrality because of the ability for carbon uptake. China's forests experienced a substantial change over the past century, primarily since the forest conservation and restoration programs were implemented. In this paper, the progress of China's forest change and the similarities and differences of the spatio-temporal patterns from multi-dimension coupling with ground surveys and satellite observations were reviewed comprehensively, and the drivers of forest change were discussed. Our review reported that: 1) China's forests experienced an extensive forest gain/restoration in vegetation greenness, forest cover, and aboveground biomass since the 1970s. 2) Changes in various forest parameters suggested distinctive spatiotemporal patterns in China. Consistent hotspots of forest gain clustered in the Loess Plateau and the southwestern China from most studies, while controversial conclusions about forest loss/degradation were found in the spatial distribution. 3) The geographic discrepancy of forest changes may be related to climate change, human activities, and forest disturbances. Variations in forest dynamics are prerequisites to exploring the effects of natural conditions and forestry policies on forest cover, and strengthening understanding of the carbon cycle. These findings can provide valuable insights for various ecological services in further studies and a scientific basis for forest management and policy-making in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The collection of forest products by indigenous communities is the main cause of deforestation and a major obstacle to efficient forest management. This study develops a time allocation model for a representative household living in the peripheries of the forest. It is assumed that the household allocates their labour time between three activities: agriculture, forest product extraction, and off-farm activities. Households maximize their net income subject to the available forest resources. Using the Optimal Control Theory and applying the unique and global maxima, the results of the comparative static and dynamic analyses suggest that higher agricultural efficiency, agricultural output prices, and higher off-farm wages maximize the forest stock. Besides that, knowledge of forest extraction and farming may also yield the higher equilibrium of forest stock while higher forest and input prices encourage forest resource extraction. The result from the tobit analyses of a socio-economic survey from the Malakand Division forest in Pakistan provides supportive empirical evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forests managed through peoples' participation can help to achieve a number of sustainable development goals (SDGs). This paper, drawing data from four participatory forest management (PFM) projects in south‐eastern Bangladesh, explored: (a) the factors that influenced the outcomes of PFM; and (b) contribution of PFM towards achieving selected SDGs. The research used observation, semi‐structured household interviews, group discussions, vegetation survey and Ostromʼs design principles for data collection, Divergent forest conditions and factors in four PFM sites have had differential contribution to SDGs. Heterogeneity of user groups, insufficient coordination, absence of motivation, and land tenure conflicts had affected the attainment of SDGs. The PFM helped to achieve 9–11 SDGs comprising poverty reduction (Goal 1), improving food security (Goal 2), maintaining health and well‐being (Goal 3), enhancing childrensʼ education (Goal 4), fair access to jobs and committees (Goals 5 and 10), sources of clean drinking water (Goal 6), affordable energy for cooking (Goal 7), increased household economy (Goal 8), climate change through carbon sequestration (Goal 13), forest conservation (Goal 15), and partnerships with relevant institutions (Goal 16). In order to achieve SDGs, PFM could be viewed as an integral part of government development strategies, which needs sectoral coordination and integration of relevant policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines efforts at forest conservation and management since colonial times in the 'High Forest Zone'; the southern part of present day Ghana. It provides a detailed historiology of attempts to apply scientific forestry principles and depicts how these ideals have crumbled in the face of material, financial and politico-economic constraints that have largely determined how control and management have unfolded in practice. Thus, the paper illustrates how principles of scientific forestry have come to follow, rather than precede and guide, practices of forest exploitation, and how investments in forest management and silvicultural practices aimed at nurturing the long-term productive value of the forests have been few and far between and rendered ineffective by weaknesses in their theoretical basis and a lack of forest ecological data. Our account of the history of scientific forestry in Ghana is relevant to scholars of empire forestry through its attention to what notions of scientific forestry meant in practice, but also to today's policy makers and practitioners in areas such as timber legality verification, forest certification and decentralised forest management where the challenges discussed in this paper live on. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forest management regimes have evolved worldwide over time in a quest to protect and conserve forests. This paper analyzed local communities' perspectives on the existing management regime for the Chobe Forest Reserve, Botswana. The study draws from a combination of triangulated data sources comprising household survey and focus group discussions. A total of 183 respondents from three communities were randomly sampled for the household survey, complemented with focus group discussions. Descriptive and inferential statistics and thematic analyses were used for analyzing data. Communities' perspectives were expressed through three central aspects underpinning the management regime: (1) level of satisfaction on state forest management regime, (2) willingness to partake in conservation activities, and (3) consultation and involvement in decision-making. Generally, the satisfaction scores showed that communities were ambivalent on the performance of the Chobe Forest Reserve management regime. Moreover, focus group discussants argued for inclusiveness of management approaches. This manifests from the locals' exclusion in the management and conservation of the forest, resulting in the formulation of regulations which infringes on the locals' right to access and use of forest resources for livelihood sustenance. This calls for a swift shift away from the longstanding tradition of local community exclusion but to inclusive participatory approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The establishment of the forestry educational centre is a good effort made to protect and conserve the forest as well as assisting the public in understanding the landscape changes and sensitivity towards its sustainability. However, there are lacks of consciousness and obligation of the important of landscape conservation in the context of development planning that causes the problem of effective implementation of a conservation strategy exists. Therefore, this paper aims to discuss forest landscapes conservation, particularly in Malaysia with the objectives of to analyse the current landscape features of selected forestry educational centres and to increase awareness among the stakeholders on the importance of conserving and preserving forest landscape towards its sustainability. The study was conducted using two methods specifically via a case study where the Sultan Idris Shah Forestry Education Center (SISFEC) was selected and field observations were conducted to analyse the existing physical condition of the study site. Findings have indicated that SISFEC has successfully conserved the existing landscapes and delivered awareness and knowledge on forest conservation and preservation to the public through several activities such as forestry camps, nature walks, and environmental education programmes. On the other hand, the findings also suggested that the forestry management should give higher priority in maintaining the manmade landscape image of the forest and plan their activities well through good monitoring and efficient management planning which will ensure the site's sustainability in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The insect fauna in Tenompok Forest Reserve, adjacent to Mount Kinabalu in Sabah was surveyed. Nocturnal insect diversity was moderately high, compared to other forest reserves surveyed earlier. Species richness, however, was moderate, with an average of 73 species from 84 individuals recorded from a 1m2 area of the light-trapping cloth. At least 20 Bornean endemic insect species were recorded from this rapid biodiversity assessment, which include 19 moth species and one beetle species. The endemics and other insects of conservation interest recorded during the survey provide salient information to enhance the conservation effort of this forest which connects Kinabalu Park and the Crocker Range Park. Such information provides inputs towards recommendations on high conservation value (HCV) of the area that would be incorporated in the formulation of the forest management plan. Issues affecting the insect fauna and recommendations on insect diversity enhancement and conservation are highlighted in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper reunites in a subjective synthesis data from forest management plans from the West Plain realized during 1995-2008. The study was focused on stands under conservation regime that have in their composition one of the most important tree species from Romania: oaks. The research method has involved extracting from the data base the sub-compartment belonging to the 1-3C functional category. As such, the following elements were analysed: the surface occupied by oak stands in the West Plain, the species included on their composition, age, pruning, field inclination, altitude, flora, forest type, soil and forest site. According to the Forest Management Technical Norms, namely to the framing of forests in groups, subgroups and functional categories, the 1-3 functional category is represented by Forests with protection functions against climatic and harmful industrial factors and belongs to the 3d functional subgroup (Forests with protection functions against climatic and harmful industrial factors) from the 1st functional group (Forests with special protection functions). The research's results show that oak forests under conservation regime represent over 1/3 of the entire surface of forest with protection functions against climatic and harmful industrial factors from the West Plain. Pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.) is the most widespread species from these types of stands, covering a total area of 1370 ha. Red oak (Quercus rubra L.) is another oak species that can be found in a significant percentage in the West Plain forests. The altitude at which stands under the conservation regime can be found on the West Plain range between 110 and 340 m. The specific fields are plane while the soils are mostly situated in the stagnic luvisol category. Carex brizoides-Agrostis alba is the most widespread type of flora from these stands. This paper's results can be a pillar for an adequate management of these stands as well as for their conservation and for the perpetuation of their protection role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forest ecosystems provide important ecological services and resources, from habitat for biodiversity to the production of environmentally friendly products, and play a key role in the global carbon cycle. Humanity is counting on forests to sequester and store a substantial portion of the anthropogenic carbon dioxide produced globally. However, the unprecedented rate of climate change, deforestation, and accidental importation of invasive insects and diseases are threatening the health and productivity of forests, and their capacity to provide these services. Knowledge of genetic diversity, local adaptation, and genetic control of key traits is required to predict the adaptive capacity of tree populations, inform forest management and conservation decisions, and improve breeding for productive trees that will withstand the challenges of the 21st century. Genomic approaches have well accelerated the generation of knowledge of the genetic and evolutionary underpinnings of nonmodel tree species, and advanced their applications to address these challenges. This special issue of Evolutionary Applications features 14 papers that demonstrate the value of a wide range of genomic approaches that can be used to better understand the biology of forest trees, including species that are widespread and managed for timber production, and others that are threatened or endangered, or serve important ecological roles. We highlight some of the major advances, ranging from understanding the evolution of genomes since the period when gymnosperms separated from angiosperms 300 million years ago to using genomic selection to accelerate breeding for tree health and productivity. We also discuss some of the challenges and future directions for applying genomic tools to address long‐standing questions about forest trees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prof. Liu Shirong, the associate editor-in-chief of the Journal of Resources and Ecology (JRE), was elected as a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) in 2023. He has made significant contributions to China's ecological civilization through his work in natural forest conservation, restoration, and multipurpose forest management. Prof. Liu has a PhD in forest ecology and has conducted research in this field for over thirty years. He has published numerous academic papers and led national-level projects. His work has been recognized with awards, including the Second Prizes of the National Science and Technology Progress Award. [Extracted from the article]

Forest administrators play a crucial role in translating conservation and development policies into action, yet policy reformers and scholars rarely examine how these administrators make decisions about the implementation of conservation and development policy in India. In this paper, I address this gap. I begin by developing a framework that draws on Western policy implementation studies and Ostrom's Institutional Analysis and Development framework and then apply this framework to a review of published studies that examine the role of forest officials in implementing public policies in India. The framework differentiates between formal and informal institutions and between institutions which are developed within an agency and those that are directed from outside the agency. I find that forester behavior varies significantly across space and time and has an important influence on the outcome of forestry programs. Innovations and excellent program implementation appear related to foresters' desire to demonstrate professional efficacy. On the other hand, many failings can be traced either to external direction or to foresters developing internal institutions that are poorly suited to the problems they are tasked with solving. Existing research is limited in its geographic and temporal scope and leaves many questions unanswered, and thus, the review concludes with a brief outline of future research needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The forest sector has a very important role to play in Tanzania's economy. Although, in absolute terms, their contribution to total gross domestic product (GDP) is relatively low, the country's forests contain such a high level of resources that make Tanzania one of the richest and most biodiverse countries. Due to such importance, forestry has variably featured in Tanzanian policies from colonial time to the present. This paper, therefore, examines such policies relating to forests and forestry in Tanzania from the colonial to recent times. It argues that, although there has been a change in the approach from a preservationist approach in the colonial and postcolonial period towards a managerial/win-win approach in the current forest conservation, there is a resurgence of the preservationist tendency in the focus on managing forest solely to increase carbon stocks. Drawing evidences from various existing policy documents and other literature, this paper concludes that forestry policies have been, and continue to reveal a notable protectionist and reservationist propensity while also expecting revenues from them through various forest products. These policies, to a greater extent, have throughout resulted into conflicts between both colonial and post-colonial states and local population who demands free access to the forest resources for their survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the carbon offset potential in Espoo, Finland, by comparing a construction-impacted deforestation site with a larger conserved forest area. Addressing a knowledge gap in localized forest conservation as a CO2 offset method, our research quantifies the carbon stock and sequestration impacts under both baseline and alternative scenarios for the two study sites. The baseline scenario for offset site reflects standard forest management practices, while the alternative scenario involves complete forest conservation without active management. Our findings reveal that the conserved forest (79 ha), dominated by Norway spruce (Picea abies) and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), increased its carbon stock by 26 Mg C ha-1 in soil and 65 Mg C ha-1 in biomass. This enhancement is sufficient to compensate for the smaller deforestation site's (19 ha), also containing a mix of Norway spruce and Scots pine, stock loss of 186 Mg C ha-1 in soil and 43 Mg C ha-1 in biomass. Furthermore, this study illuminates the complexities of CO2 compensation regulation and emphasizes the necessity for robust, transparent carbon accounting practices. The insights offer a valuable perspective on integrating nature-based solutions in urban planning to achieve broader ecological and climate goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Since 1990, there has been a global decline in forest areas. Between 2010 and 2020, the greatest annual net loss of forests was on the African continent. Despite South African indigenous forests and trees being protected under the National Forests Act of 1998 (Act No. 84 of 1998), the country has also shown an increased annual net loss of forests. Although the Vhembe District Municipality in South Africa has lost forest owing to humaninduced deforestation and other land use activities, sacred forests have not been affected. According to traditional beliefs, exploitation of such indigenous patches of sacred forests is taboo. This study aims to explore the role of taboos in the protection of the remaining patches of sacred forest. Methods: The study relies on data collected between December 2022 and December 2023. Semi-structured interviewswere conductedwith key informants (n = 61) and local communities in Tshidzivhe and Duthuni villages (n = 60). Observations were used as a further data collection tool. The interview questions were prepared to assess the role of taboos in the protection and management of sacred forests. Data collected through interviews were analysed using thematic content analysis, while field observations helped to corroborate the results from the interviews. Results and discussion: The study identified two main taboos - one that restricts entry into the sacred forests (i.e. preventing entry into the sacred forests, and harvesting, hunting and hiking in these areas), and another that prohibits noise or activities that disrespect sacred forests. The study found that believers and nonbelievers alike, for fear of retribution by the spirits, still obey these taboos and their relatedmyths. This has allowed these areas to develop dense stands of closed-canopy evergreen forest that support more diverse flora and fauna than found in surrounding areas. Although sacred forests are not meant for biodiversity conservation, they offer opportunities to be integrated into global conservation targets of "30x30" and "Half-Earth" by 2030. They also offer the opportunity of serving as carbon sinks which is key to climate change mitigation. Recommendations for protecting sacred forests and associated taboos are drawn up based on these results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding needle biomass turnover rates in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) stands is crucial for modelling forest ecosystem dynamics and nutrient cycling. This study examined needle litterfall and biomass turnover in Scots pine stands of varying ages in temperate forests (western Poland). The research focused on determining how stand age affects needle biomass, litterfall and the associated turnover rates. Data were collected from 20 Scots pine stands aged 26 to 90 years, and needle litterfall was measured and analysed in relation to stand characteristics such as age, density and biomass. The average annual needle litter production of the sampled Scots pine stands was 2008 kg·ha−1·year−1, similar to the values previously reported for this tree species in other temperate forests in Europe. The average needle biomass turnover rate for sampled Scots pine stands was 23.4%. We could not support the hypothesis that this parameter depended on the age of the Scots pine stand. The needle biomass turnover rate showed a positive correlation with crown length and a negative correlation with stand density due to the very weak correlations; however, further research is needed to confirm these relationships. Despite this, the parameter can be used to estimate needle litterfall and can be applicable to conditions corresponding to those of temperate forests in Central and Western Europe. This study also highlights the need for further research on needle biomass turnover in temperate forests to improve the accuracy of carbon and nutrient cycling models. This work contributes to a deeper understanding of the role of needle litterfall in maintaining soil fertility and forest productivity, offering insights into sustainable forest management and conservation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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